Beverly Billingsly Borrows a Book

Beverly Billingsly is terrified. She can't eat--not even chocolate cake. She can't sleep. What could be so horrific for the youngster? Her library book Dinosaurs of the Cretaceous Period--checked out using her very-first-ever library card--is overdue! Her friends aren't much help: Sheila tells Beverly she will probably owe about a thousand dollars in fines, and Carlton proclaims, "My mother's friend's cousin's brother was late with a library book, and he went to jail." Even in her dreams, a green triceratops warns, "Return me, Beverleeeeeee!" Needless to say, Beverly is quite relieved when the hip new librarian Mrs. Del Rubio dismisses her two-day-late book with a smile and gentle note of caution.

William Steig (Sylvester and the Magic Pebble) meets Lucy Cousins (of Maisy fame) in Alexander Stadler's completely charming picture-book tribute to libraries and the joy of reading. Early readers will relate to Beverly's voracious enjoyment of her chosen book as well as her overblown, stomach ache-inducing fears about the consequences of it being overdue. (Her gushed confession to her concerned mother goes as follows: "I have to return the book, and the dinosaur is mad at me, and Mrs. Del Rubio is going to take all my money, and I don't want to go to jail!")

The simple illustrations are expressive and winning--with fabulous characterizations of the not-so-helpful Carlton, hilarious depictions of imagined jail scenarios, and small-but-wonderful details like the book's due date, April 7, printed in red all over Beverly's pajamas during the "nightmare sequence." A fine addition to any young booklover's shelf. (Ages 3 to 7) --Karin Snelson